60s Baby-Boomer Television Idol Passes Away
This week the American baby boomer population lost one of its most beloved television icons. "The Soupy Sales Show" will always be one of the most memorable television memories of any American child who grew up during the 1960s. Who could forget his puppets? Black Tooth, the meanest dog on earth and White Fang, who were really just big furry paws and Pookie the lion appeared on almost every show. And the most beloved character portrayed by Soupy himself was "Philo Kvetch". He even had famous guests; Frank Sinatra, the Supremes, and the Shangri-Las all made an appearance.We can never forget Soupy getting a pie in the face during every show. Soupy didn't invent pie-throwing [or "pie-ing"] as a comedic element. People had been getting assaulted with custard and whipped-cream pie mpissiles since silent movies and vaudeville a hundred years ago, but Soupy perfected the art, getting his face smashed into stationery pies, hit from above to his head, or even having pies smashed into both cheeks simultaneously. Soupy even invented dances, which he did in a black shirt with a floppy polka-dotted bow tie. His most famous ones were the "mouse" and the "Soupy Shuffle", which we did in my 5th grade class. And do you remember the words to his own original song "Pakhalafika"?
"Pakhalafika, Pakhalafika
They whisper it all over Turkey
Pakhalafika, Pakhalafika
`It sounds so romantic and perky....."
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